by Maia Starr
"She has not. She is still very opinionated and demanding, but she has calmed and has become used to the routine of being locked up in her bedroom,” I said to him.
"And what has she told you?”
"What is your meaning, leader?” I asked.
"My mate Alexis has told me that she and Shia are Earth scientists. This means that they're both very, very intelligent human females. We can learn much knowledge from them. What knowledge have you learned from Shia?” he said.
"Not much, superior leader. I do not converse much with the human female except to feed her and check on her. Other than that, we do not converse on any level,” I said to him.
"Of course,” he said, “you are but a warrior. You do your duty and nothing more,” he said. “But you say that she is settled in her routine of being locked in her bedroom?”
"Yes, she is. She has not tried to escape, and she has not slapped me again,” I grinned.
"Good,” he laughed. “It is good that she has not killed you in your sleep the way you warned me that she might when you first brought me the two females.”
"No, but she is locked in her own room, as I have said. She would not have a chance,” I said to him.
"Good, then she will be secure and go about her routine being locked up while you are away,” he said.
"While I am away?” I asked.
"Yes, I have orders for you."
"Ready to receive orders, Baradur," I said, standing at attention. I was relieved that we were done speaking of Shia and this was routine orders.
"I have received information that an Earth ship that is stationed one thousand units from here. You will go investigate and report back through communication. If there is an Earth ship, then you will pillage and plunder her as always,” he said.
"Order confirmed. When do we depart?” I asked, immediately feeling anxiety toward leaving Shia while I went into deep space.
"You will depart as soon as your ship is ready. Get your warriors together and take as many as you can. We do not know what you will run into. It could be a research vessel or it could be Earth military. You must be prepared,” he said.
"I will have my ship and warriors prepared. I will deliver the commands now. Is there anything else I can do for you, leader?”
"That is all for now. You may inform the human female known as Shia that my forever mate Alexis will be the one visiting her to bring her meals. I do not trust any other warrior to be near the human female,” he said to me.
"Yes, I will deliver the message to her," I said to him, trying to hide my elation. Shia would be very, very happy and relieved to know this. But most of all, I was relieved to know that she would not be left in the hands of another warrior.
I moved as quickly as I could around the moon base Altid. The faster I was at getting my ship prepared and my warriors in order, the faster I could leave. The faster that I could leave, the quicker I would return. I did not know what Baradur’s plans were for Shia, but the longer I was gone, the more time he had to make a decision about which leader she would be sent to. I could not stand the thought of it. I buried myself in the preparations so that I did not have to think about it; it felt like torture.
I'm not sure if any other Corillion understood what this felt like because they did not have to go through it. Once they had a mate, it was forever, and they did not have to feel the torture of having it pulled away from them. No, none of them could understand what I was feeling. None of them could understand the insanity that it would make you go through in order to keep the human female for yourself. It was making me defy the Corillion ways and rules that I had lived by and honored all of my life. All for one human female and the experience of mating with her.
"I have news, Shia Heton,” I said to her when I walked into the living quarters. The sight of her took my breath away. She was freshly showered and wrapped in a blanket. Her hair was wet and dripping.
"Yes, what is it?” she asked anxiously.
"I have already forgotten because looking at you is such a distraction," I said, stepping toward her. I put my hands on her wet arms and rubbed them up and down. Her soft pale skin was so wet and delicious. I wanted to kiss and lick every inch of her.
"Well, you must remember. It must be important for you to walk in and say so,” she said smiling.
The smile fell from my face as I remembered that I would have to be leaving her. “I am being sent on a mission. I will be leaving very soon, and I am not sure when I will return. I am going into deep space after a vessel,” I said to her.
"No. You can't leave me now. I'm so confused," she said panicking.
"I understand your feelings, Shia. But I do not have a choice in the matter. I am a warrior. I obey my orders from my leader. I must go on this mission.”
"And what is to happen to me? Is Baradur sending me away to another leader to be a forever mate?"
"No. He asked me to pass a message onto you,” I said to her.
She looked at me in surprise. “Me? The leader has a message for me?”
"Yes, he does. He says that you are to stay here just as you have been. You will be locked away in these living quarters. You will be delivered meals while I am away. His message was to tell you that those meals would be delivered by Alexis.”
"Really? You are not lying?” she asked excitedly.
"No, I did not lie about this. That is the message from the leader.”
"That is a relief! I am so happy that I am to remain here to wait. I am so happy that I will get to see Alexis on a daily basis!” she said excitedly.
"But, Shia, you must promise me something. What we did, what we have done, that must be kept a secret between you and me. No one can know it. You cannot trust your companion, Alexis. She is a forever mate now. She is obligated to share all information with her Corillion mate. In fact, it might be why Baradur is sending her to you, to get information."
"What do you mean?” she asked.” What information could he possibly want from me?”
"He said that he has learned that you and Alexis were Earth scientists. Therefore he knows that you and she know a lot more information than your average human female. He is very wise. It is information to further the Corillion race at any costs. That could be what he wants. Or he could have doubts about what you and I have been doing this entire time. Of course, he would be suspicious that I would have mated with you by now; who would be able to resist such a thing? Therefore you cannot tell Alexis this that you and I have mated. The penalty for mating with a human female that is not yours is a heavy one,” I said.
“Well, what is it? It can’t be that bad. The whole purpose of the Corillion is to mate with human females; how could you endure such a heavy penalty for it?” she asked. “What is it exactly.”
“Death. I would be put to death before I could even make it back to Altid,” I said to her.
"Duron! I did not know this. Why did you not tell me this? I would have never touched you! I have ruined everything. You will die because of me!”
“I would die without you anyway. It is better that I have something real to die for. I would die a thousand deaths to experience being inside of you once.”
Tears began to form in her green eyes and roll down her cheeks. “You can trust me. I will tell no one, not even Alexis, that we have been together. Just come back safely. It is all that I ask of you at this time. I can keep a secret. You do not need to worry about me here and what will be said.”
Chapter 7
SHIA HETON
"Goodbye, Shia. I will return; that I promise. Stay quiet. Do not do anything that will make you stick out. Stay here, stay locked up, say nothing to your friend,” Duron said to me as he held me tightly.
I was astonished by how much had changed since he had taken the space station only weeks before. I’d hated him so much, and a part of me still did. But the other part of me was falling for him. I knew that now because the fact that he was leaving was very disturbing and sad to me. I didn't want him to leav
e. I didn't want him to leave me here alone in the strange world full of male warriors. I had developed feelings for this ruthless, brutal warrior Commander. He had showed me a different side of him, and I was falling for it. Now as he hugged me tightly, I did not want him to let go.
"I understand, Duron. I will try to stay as invisible as possible. Just make sure to return here, to me.
"I will. I promise,” he said as he pressed his lips against mine. Then he quickly pulled away from me and walked out the door. Now I was alone, truly alone.
I was devastated by the news of the Corillion punishment for mating with a human female that was not yours. I thought that I was helping. I thought that I was giving Duron life by mating with him. Instead, I was giving him an earlier death than what he expected. I wished that he had told me. Why did he not stop me before things went too far? He truly did want to be with me. He had to in order to risk death in this way. I cried myself to sleep. I didn’t know how we could get out of this. Then it donned on me, I was saying “we” instead of “I” and that was new. I had it bad. Was I falling in love with this ruthless commander that I hated so much?
The next day, I waited, hoping that I would get to see Alexis again. Finally, she showed up carrying a large basket full of food.
"Shia! I'm so happy to see you," she said as she hugged me.
"Alexis I am so happy to see you,” I said, acting as though it was the first time I had seen her since we were separated because there was a guard standing at the open door. She turned to the guard and nodded. The guard shut the door and stood outside in the hallway.
"Are you all right? Are you hurt?” she asked.
"No, I am fine. How are you? Are you still being treated respectfully?” I asked her.
"Yes, Baradur is very fair with me. I love him so much, Shia. It is absolutely insane to say that, but I do. And there is something else..."
"What is it?” I asked.
"I am with offspring,” she said, putting her hand on her belly.
My eyes grew wide. I couldn't believe it. It had happened so fast. But then again, we weren't exactly dealing with human DNA here. I was terrified for her, but I did not want to say so. I did not know if Baradur had told her what Duron had told me. I did not know if she knew that the Corillion race was actually a race of spawned aliens, like a plant life. I did not want to scare her, so I simply smiled and said, “Alexis! Are you sure? How do you know?”
"I can feel it. I feel different. I know that something is growing inside of me. I know that it is a product of the love between Baradur and I."
"Are you happy about this? If you are happy, then I am happy for you,” I said to her.
"Yes! I'm very happy!” she shouted.
"Then I am happy for you, Alexis. How long did it take you to get pregnant?” I asked.
"It happened during our first act of making love,” she said to me.
Her words shocked me. In the heat of the moment, I had not thought about such a thing. I too was with an alien warrior. I was careless and reckless. What if our time together resulted in me becoming pregnant with offspring? I began to panic, but I had to hide it. She could not know that I had been with Duron.
"You must be hungry. I hate that you are locked up like this. I am able to roam the moon base as I please. I know that once you are matched with a Corillion, you will be able to do the same,” she said, digging through the basket on the table and pulling out food.
Talking to Alexis was strange. She wasn't the same friend I knew on the space station. Now she seemed like an outsider to me. She was more Corillion than human. And now being a forever mate and carrying offspring, she was full on Corillion and devoted to them. I now had to be careful what I said to her. Duron's warning was fresh on my mind. Was she really here as a spy for her husband, Baradur? Would she try to gather information from me?
"What do you do locked up here all day? Have you not bonded with your captor Commander Duron Spaunok?” she asked.
"No, I rarely see him. You see that door there? I am locked in that bedroom most of the time unless he leaves, and then I am allowed to roam the rest of the living quarters,” I said, realizing that she had already started her investigation. She was prodding me for information. I had to be careful with my words. She could not know that I had bonded with Duron because she would figure it out, any woman would. “In truth, I hate him. I have not forgotten that he made me watch as he blew up our colleagues and peers on the space station. You cannot forget that either,” I said to her. She stopped digging through the basket and had a sad look on her face.
Then she continued with her information gathering. “Do you think any of our colleagues escaped? What did you hear on the intercom that day? I was so panicked and terrified that I did not even pay attention. I just remember scrambling to try to get to the escape pod and not making it. Surely a few of them escaped; they had too. Do you remember?” she asked.
Why was she asking me this? Had Baradur told her to ask me this, or was she genuinely concerned with the well-being of our colleagues and crew? Perhaps Baradur was worried that a few of the colleagues that got away would be reporting the incident to Earth and there would be repercussions. We were at war, after all. I did remember that Dr. Elmore had ejected in an escape pod, but I wasn’t going to tell her this.
"I wish I remembered. But like you said, it was chaotic, and I was terrified. I was on such adrenaline, but a part of me thinks that no one got away,” I said to her.
"Let's eat something. I am always hungry now,” she said to me with a smile, changing the subject.
We sat down to eat and had light conversation, joking about our scientific experiments that never came to fruition. Then I asked her, “What do you know about the Corillion race, Alexis? Do you know how they came to be? Do you know where they are from?” I asked her.
"No, I do not know very much about them. Baradur and I have mostly spent our time getting to know each other. I really didn't ask about the background of the race. Do you know?” she asked.
Sensing that perhaps Baradur had been keeping it from her on purpose, I decided that I should not be the one to tell her. I wouldn't want him to have any reason to keep her from me while Duron was away. And seeing her would be the highlight of every day for me.
"No. I know nothing; it is just the scientific curiosity in me wanting to know more. They are very fascinating creatures,” I said with a smile.
"That is true,” she said laughing.
We finished eating, and before too long, the warrior was signaling at the door that it was time for her to leave. “I must go, Shia. I will come tomorrow at the exact same time. Who knows, in a few days maybe I could even get permission to take you on a walk inside the base. It is good exercise and you need to get out of this room. I know that before too long, you will be taken from me to another place to be a forever mate for a Corillion leader. I want to make the most of our time together,” she said.
"I do too,” I said to her, giving her a hug. “Thank you for the food. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow,” I smiled.
She left, and I was once again alone. I went over every detail of my meeting with Alexis. It was very strange. It was like talking to a completely different person from the one that I knew previously. Being cautious around her with my words was hard but necessary. She was, in fact, a very observant person; that is what made her a scientist. I did not know if she believed anything that I had said, but I hoped so. She was in very deep now that she was carrying the offspring of a Corillion leader. Then I remembered, I could be too. How would I ever know? It was too early to tell, or at least it would be if it were human-with-human offspring. I didn't know what to expect with a Corillion pregnancy. It could happen very rapidly for all I knew. It was a mystery to me. But what if I was pregnant too?
Then something else that Alexis said struck me: that I would soon be off to be a forever mate for a Corillion. Baradur must have mentioned it to her in order for her to bring it up. It was probably going to be soone
r than I thought. That made me panic beyond belief. I had to figure out a way out of it. But how? There was no way that I could escape. I was not a pilot. I could not steal a ship and fly back to Earth. It was just not possible. Even if I did, I knew they would hunt me down and find me quickly, and then there would be extreme punishment.
There must be some other way. I wondered if any of our crew or science colleagues had made it back to Earth. I did remember that a few escaped. I remembered hearing Dr. Elmore had ejected his escape pod successfully, and a few others. I did not want to tell Alexis this because I knew that telling her meant I was telling Baradur. As much as I had feelings for Duron, the Corillion alien race was still the enemy of humans and Earth. I had to remain on the side of my own species. I just had to.
Now that I knew I was alone for many hours and would not be visited again until the same time the next day by Alexis, I had the freedom to look around the living quarters. I did not know what I was searching for, but I had to find something to help me. I searched every control panel on the walls, opening and closing windows. I opened cubby holes and uncovered shelves with gadgets and guns. There were a lot of hidden things in the walls. But nothing that could really help me, until a panel slid open revealing something that looked very familiar to me.